Weighed down by gadgets?

Germans carry the most devices and Australians the least but nearly all people carry at least a smartphone, and while e-readers are falling out of fashion as a portable companion, MP3 players are still popular in people's pockets.

Over 2200 Sophos Naked Security blog readers took part in the survey to discover how many devices the average reader packs into their bags or pockets each time they leave their homes.

It's worth mentioning that anyone who subscribes to a blog such as that of Sophos is aware of online and computer security and therefore may be slightly more tech-savvy than the typical consumer, but the results are interesting all the same. Sophos found that the average person carries 2.9 gadgets with them on a regular basis, though one unnamed respondent admitted to taking an incredible 12 devices with him every time he leaves the house.

MP3 player: a faithful companion

The country whose population pack the most devices into their pockets is Germany. On average German readers carry 3.1 devices with them on a regular basis. They are followed by Americans, who carry three devices, ahead of UK readers and Canadians, who carry 2.7 devices. At 2.6, Australians carry the least number of gadgets.

In terms of popularity, the smartphone comes out on top -- carried by 85 percent of respondents, followed by the notebook computer, carried by 65 percent or respondents. At the other end of the scale, an e-reader was the least popular device (carried by only 29% of respondents) but despite the growing functionality of smartphones, 40 percent of people still also carry a dedicated MP3 player.

OS loyalty across devices?

When it came to notebooks and laptops, Windows is the most popular operating system -- accounting for 49 percent of all laptops carried. Perhaps unsurprisingly for the readership of an IT and IT security blog, 8 percent said their laptop runs Linux, the fully open-source operating system.

However, when it comes to smartphones, it is almost a straight split between Android and Apple's iOS. Android accounted for 40.9 percent and iPhones for 40.5 percent of phones carried, with BlackBerry coming third (8.9%) and Windows last with 3.4 percent.

In general Mac laptop or desktop users also prefer to carry the iPhone (62%) and an iPad (45%) but their loyalty isn't absolute -- 24 percent claimed to carry an Android smartphone and 28 percent an Android tablet. Windows and Linux users both plump for an Android smartphone more than any other (44% and 56% respectively). The same is true of tablet choice - 36 percent of Windows users carried an Android tablet and 41 percent of Linux users.

The survey was inspired by Apple co-Founder, Steve Wozniak who, in a Gizmodo article published in July, claimed to carry so many devices and cables on his travels that when he is stopped at an airport and asked to remove all electronic equipment from his luggage, he usually fills seven bins.